MACOMB COUNTY — During his Dec. 7 State of the County address, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel touted the ongoing momentum that’s continually bringing new life into the area.He noted how the Make Macomb Your ...Read More

A Troy family returned to their second-floor Charter Square apartment, near Big Beaver and Livernois, at 8 p.m. Dec. 7 after going out to dinner to find their apartment on fire.Fire officials said a man had been cooking on ...Read More

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — Clinton Township Clintondale boys basketball coach Rob Townsend makes it clear that he sees where his team could be at a disadvantage this season.“We have no size,” Townsend said. ...Read More

ROCHESTER — At the annual Rochester Adams coaches meeting, Jason Rapp had a very important announcement.The athletic director of the Highlanders was pleased to reveal that Al Must had won the title of Coach of the ...Read More

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — A new bench that sits on the playground of Cheyenne Elementary School is the product of a Dakota High School sophomore who recently earned Eagle Scout status.Alec DeMaria recently earned the ...Read More

TROY — Carole Halbrook, 74, of Sterling Heights, never thought she would find love again after she lost her husband, Albert Person, her high school sweetheart and childhood neighbor, who died suddenly during routine ...Read More

Login

Man charged with leaving scene of fatal Center Line accident

CENTER LINE — A Warren man has been arrested and charged with driving away from an accident that killed a pedestrian on 11 Mile Road east of Van Dyke late last month.

Anthony Nicholaus Smith, 32, was arraigned before 37th District Court Judge Michael Chupa March 10 on one count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, a five-year felony.

The Center Line Public Safety Department launched an investigation into the death of 62-year-old Olimbi Losha Feb. 20 after 911 callers reported a body in the curbside lane of eastbound 11 Mile, just east of Van Dyke, at 11:30 p.m. Public Safety Director Paul Myszenski later said Losha was apparently struck and killed as she walked in the roadway from a bus stop on Van Dyke to her home nearby in Warren. Investigators believed Losha was struck from behind between Van Dyke and Evelyn as she walked in the street to avoid accumulated ice and snow on the sidewalk.

An autopsy later revealed that the injuries were caused by a motor vehicle impact. Myszenski said materials gathered at the scene of the accident were sent to the Michigan State Police Crime Lab for analysis.

Costello said the investigation took a turn toward an arrest earlier this month with the assistance of law enforcement agencies in multiple jurisdictions. He said a tipster contacted the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office about a vehicle possibly involved in the fatal collision. Oakland County later contacted investigators in Center Line, who located the vehicle with the help of sheriff deputies in Genesee County.

“He was up in Genesee County where his car was parked at a family member’s home,” Costello said. “They informed us there was a vehicle with fresh damage. They described it. It visually matched what we had collected at the scene of the crash.”

Smith was taken into custody in Genesee County on a misdemeanor warrant out of Shelby Township. Costello said he interviewed Smith at the Shelby Township Police Department March 7 and requested a felony warrant for the hit-and-run based on the evidence.

Smith’s vehicle, a 1996 Dodge Ram truck, was impounded and turned over to the Michigan State Police for further evidentiary analysis. He requested a court-appointed lawyer and remained held in the Macomb County Jail on a $100,000 bond ahead of his next court date, scheduled for March 19 in Center Line.

About the author

Staff Writer Brian Louwers covers the cities of Warren and Center Line. He has worked for C & G Newspapers since 1998 and is a graduate of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. In his free time, he participates in the Michigan State University Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Program and conducts interviews with military veterans for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.